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YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH 
ALBERT S. COOK, Editor 

XXII 

King Alfred's Old English Version 

OF 

St. Augustine's Soliloquies 

TURNED INTO MODERN ENGLISH 



BY 

HENRY LEE HARGROVE, Ph.D. 

Professor of English^ Baylor University 



NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1904 



H. 



'«^0S'^pr, 



\ 



/ 



YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH 
ALBERT S. COOK, Editor 

XXII 

King Alfred's Old English Version 

OF 

St. Augustine's Soliloquies 

TURNED INTO MODERN ENGLISH 



BY 

HENRY LEE HARGROVE, Ph.D. 

Professor of English^ Baylor University 



NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1904 



Gift 
The University 



TO 

my dear brother 

Warren Penn Hargrove 

who departed this life 

february 8, i9o3 

AGED 25 



PREFACE 

Since the publication of my King Alfred's Old English 
Version of St. Augustine's Soliloquies, which appeared in 
1902, I have been at work on this translation. With the 
faith that the unique importance of the work justifies its 
being given this form for the benefit of the general reader, 
and with the encouragement from scholars that my render- 
ing will be received in the kindly spirit which characterized 
the reception of my former edition, I now venture this 
publication. 

For those who care to use the two editions together it 
will be seen (i) that the Alfredian additions to the Latin 
are set in italics; and (2) that the numbers at the top 
of each page refer to the page and line of the corresponding 
text of the Old English. 

I must add that Professor Albert S. Cook has been my 
counsellor and critic throughout the work. 

Henry Lee Hargrove. 

Baylor University, 
July 6, 1904. 



King Alfred's Old English Version 

OF 

St. Augustine's Soliloquies 

TURNED INTO MODERN ENGLISH 



KING ALFRED'S PREFACE 

I then gathered for myself staves, and stud- 
shafts, and cross-beams, and helves for each of 
the tools that I could work with; and bow-tim- 
bers and bolt-timbers for every work that I could 
perform — as many as I could carry of the come- 
liest trees. Nor came I home with a burden, for 
it pleased me not to bring all the wood home, 
even if I could bear it. In each tree I saw 
something that I needed at home; therefore I 
exhort every one who is able, and has many 
wains, to direct his steps to the self-same wood 
where I cut the stud-shafts. Let him there ob- 
tain more for himself, and load his wains with 
fair twigs, so that he may wind many a neat 
wail, and erect many a rare house, and build a 
fair enclosure, and therein dwell in joy and com- 
fort both winter and summer, in such manner as 
I have not yet done. But He who taught me, 
and to whom the wood was pleasing, hath power 
to make me dwell more comfortably both in this 
transitory cottage by the road while I am on 
this world-pilgrimage, and also in the everlasting 
home which He hath promised us through Saint 
Augustine and Saint Gregory and Saint Jerome, 
and through many other holy Fathers; as I believe 



2 King Alfred's Preface [1.21— 2.23 

also for the merits of all those He will both 
make this way more convenient than it hitherto 
was, and especially will enlighten the eyes of my 
mind so that I may search out the right way to 
the eternal home, and to everlasting glory, and 
to eternal rest, which is promised us through 
those holy Fathers. So may it be. 

It is no wonder that one should labor in tim- 
ber-work, both in the gathering and also in the 
building; but every man desireth that, after he 
hath built a cottage on his lord's lease and by 
his help, he may sometimes rest himself therein, 
and go hunting, fowling, and fishing; and use it 
in every manner according to the lease, both on 
sea and land, until such time as he shall gain 
the fee simple of the eternal heritage through 
his lord's mercy. So may the rich Giver do, who 
ruleth both these temporary cottages and the 
homes everlasting. May He, who created both 
and ruleth both, grant me to be fit for each 
— both here to be useful and thither to attain. 

Augustine, bishop of Carthage, made two books 
about his own mind. These books are called 
Soliloquies, that is, concerning the meditation and 
doubts of his mind— how his Reason answered his 
mind when the mind doubted about anything, or 
wished to know anything that it could not before 
clearly understand. 



BOOK I 

Then said he, his mind often went fearing and search- 
ing out various and rare things, and most of all about 
himself — zvhat^ he was; whether his mind and his soul 
ivere mortal and perishable, or ever-living and eternal; and 
again, about his God, what He was, and of what nature 
He was ; and what good it were best for him to do, and 
what evil best to forsake. Then answered me something, 
I know not what, whether myself or another thing; nor 
know I whether it was within me or without; hut this one 
thing I most truly know, that it was my Reason; and it 
said to me : 

Reason. If thou have any good steward that can well 
hold that which thou gettest and committest unto him, show 
him to me ; but if thou have none so prudent, search till 
thou find him; for thou canst not both always keep watch 
and ward over that which thoxi hast gained, and also get 
more. 

Augustine. To what shall I commit what more I get, 
if not to my memory? 

R. Is thy memory powerful enough to hold all things 
that thou thinkest out and bidst it to hold? 

A. Nay, nay; neither mine nor any man's is so strong 
that it can hold everything that is committed to it. 

R. Then commit it to words and write it down. Howbeit 
methinks thou art too feeble to write it all ; and though thou 
wert entirely sound, thou wouldst need to have a place 
retired and void of everything else, and a feiv zvise and 
skilful men with thee zvho would hinder thee in no zvise. 
but give aid to thy ability. 

A. I have none of these, neither the leisure, nor the 
help of other men, nor a place retired enough to suit me 
for such work; therefore I know not what I shall do. 

^ Passages in italics were added by Alfred to the original Latin. 



4 King Alfred's [4.14— €.6 

R. I know then nothing better than that thou shouldst 
pray. Make known thy wish to God, Saviour of mind and 
body, that thou mayst through such salvation obtain what 
thou wishest. And when thou hast prayed, write the prayer, 
lest thou forget it, that thou be the fitter for thy task. And 
pray sincerely in few words and with full understanding. 

A. I zvill do even as thou teachest me, saying thus: 

O Lord, Thou who art the Creator of all things, grant 
me first to know how to pray to Thee aright and acceptably, 
and that I may merit to be worthy that Thou for thy mercy 
wilt redeem and deliver me. On Thee I call, O Lord, who 
madest all that could not else have sprung into being, nor 
without Thee could even abide. I call to, Thee, O Lord, 
who leavest none of thy creatures to become naught. To 
Him I call who hath made all creatures beautiful without 
any original substance. To Thee I call, who never w rought- 
est any evil, but rather every good work. To Him I call 
who teacheth to a few wise men that evil is naught. 

O Lord, thou hast wrought all things perfect, and nothing 
imperfect ; to Thee is no creature untoward ; though any 
thing will, it can not be so, for Thou hast shapen them all 
orderly, and peaceable, and so harmonious that none of them 
can altogether destroy another, but the ugly ever adorn- 
eth the beautiful. To Thee I call, whom everything loveth 
that can love, both those which know what they love, and 
those which know not what they love. Thou who hast 
shapen all creatures very good, without any evil — Thou who 
wilt not altogether shoiv thyself openly to any but to them 
that are pure in heart, I call to Thee, O Lord, because Thou 
art the Father of truth and wisdom, of the true and highest 
life, and of the highest blessedness, and of the highest good, 
and of the highest brightness, and of the intelligible light ; 
Thou who art the Father of the Son zvho hath aivakencd 
us, and still arouscth us, from the sleep of our sins, and 
wameth us to come to Thee. 

To Thee I pray, O Lord, who art the highest truth, and 
through whom is true all that is true. I pray to Thee, O 



6.7—7-21] St. Augustine 5 

Lord, who art the true Hfe, and through whom all things 
live that do live. Thou art the highest blessedness, and 
through Thee are blessed all that are blessed. Thou art 
the highest good^ ... is and beautiful. Thou art the 
intelligible light through which man knoweth. I pray to 
Thee, O Lord, who wieldest all the world; whom we can 
not know bodily, neither by eyes, nor by smell, nor by ears, 
nor by taste, nor by touch; although such laws as we have, 
and such virtues as we have, we take all those that are 
good from thy realm, and from thy realm zve drazv an 
example of all the good we perform. For every one fall- 
etli who fleetli from Thee, and every one riseth who turn- 
etli to Thee, and every one standeth who abideth in Thee ; 
he dieth who wholly forsaketh Thee, he is quickened who 
turneth to Thee, and he liveth indeed who abideth in Thee. 
No one that is wise forsaketh Thee, no one seeketh Thee 
except he be wise, and no one altogether findeth Thee but 
the pure in heart. That is, he perisheth who forsaketh 
Thee. He zvho loveth Thee seeketh Thee; he zvho fol- 
loweth after Thee hath Thee. Thy truths zvhich Thoik 
hast given us azvaken us from the sleep of our sins. Our 
hope lifteth us to Thee. Our love, which Thou hast given 
us, bindeth us to Thee. Through Thee we overcome our 
foes, both spiritual and carnal. Thou who forgivest, drazv 
nigh to me and have mercy upon me, because Thou hast 
bestowed upon us great gifts, to wit, that we shall never 
entirely perish and thus come to naught. 

O Lord, who warnest us to watch, Thou hast given us 
reason, wherewith to find out and distinguish good and evil, 
and to flee the evil. Thou hast given us patience not to 
despair in any toil nor in any misfortune. Nor is this a 
wonder, because Thou dost verily rule zvell, and makest us 
to serve Thee zvell. Thou hast taught us to understand 
that zvorldly zvealth, which we looked upon as our own, is 
alien to us, and transitory ; and Thou hast also taught us 
to consider as our own what we looked upon as alien to us, 

' An omission in the MS. 



6 King Alfred's [7.21— 9.11 

to wit, the kingdom of heaven, which ive once despised. 
Thou ivho hast taught us to do no unlawfid thing, and 
hast also taught us not to mourn even though our riches 
should wane. Thou who hast taught us to subject our body 
to our mind. 

Thou who didst overcome death when Thou thyself didst 
arise, and also wilt make all men arise. Thou zvho makest 
us all zvorthy of Thee, and cleansest us from all our sins, 
and justifiest us, and hearest our prayers. Thou who 
madest us of thy household, and zvho teachest us all right- 
eousness, and ahvays teachest us the good, and ahvays dost 
us good, and leavest us not to serve an unrighteous lord, as 
zvc did aforetime. Thou callest us back to our way, and 
leadest us to the door, and openest to us, and givest us the 
bread of eternal life and the drink of life's well. Thou who 
threatenest men for their sins, and who teachest them to 
judge righteous judgments, and to do righteousness. Thou 
strengthenedst us, and yet dost strengthen us, in our belief, 
in order that unbelievers ma}^ not harm us. Thou hast 
given us, and yet givest us, understanding, that we may 
overcome the error of those [who teach that]^ men's souls 
have, after this world, no reward for their deserts, either 
of good or of evil, whichever they do here. Thou who 
hast loosed us from the thraldom of other creatures, Thou 
always preparest eternal life for us, and alzvays preparcst 
lis for eternal life. 

Come now to my aid, Thou who art the only eternal and 
true Deity — Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost — without any 
variableness or turning, Avithout any need or impotence, 
and without death. Thou who always dwellest in the high- 
est brightness and in the highest steadfastness, in the high- 
est unanimity and the highest sufficiency ; for to Thee there 
is no want of good, but Thou always dwellest thus full of 
every good unto eternity. Thou art Father, and Son, and 
Holy Ghost. 

^ Supplied by translator to complete the sense. 



9.12— 10.23] St. Augustine 7 

Thee serve all the creatures that Thou didst create ; to 
Thee is every good soul subject ; at thy command the 
heavens turn and all stars hold their courses ; at thy behest 
the sun bringeth the bright day, and the moon light by night ; 
after the image of these Thou dost govern and wield all 
this world, so that all creatures change even as day and night. 
Thou rulest and fixest the year by the alternations of the four 
seasons — to wit, spring, and summer, autumn, and winter ; 
each of which alternateth and varieth with the other, so that 
each of them is again exactly what and where it formerly 
was ; and so all stars change and vary in the same manner — 
likewise the sea and the rivers; in the same manner all crea- 
tures suffer change. Hozvheit, sotne vary in another man- 
ner, so that the same come not again where they formerly 
were, nor become just ivhat they zvere; but others come in 
their stead, as leaves on trees; and apples, grass, plants, and 
trees grow old and sere, and others come, ivax green, and 
grow, and ripen; zvherefore they again begin to zvither. 
And likezuise all beasts and fowls, in such manner that it is 
now too long to reckon them all. Yea, even men's bodies 
zvax old, just as other creatures do; but just as they formerly 
lived more worthily than trees or other animals, so shall 
they arise more worthily on Doomsday, so that never after- 
zvard shall their bodies become naught nor zvax old; and 
though the body had decayed, yet the soid was ever-living 
since first it zvas created. 

And all the creatures, about whom zve say that they seem 
to us inharmonious and unsteadfast, have yet somezvhat of 
steadiness, because they are bridled with the bridle of God's 
commandments, God gave freedom to men's souls, that 
they might do either good or evil, whichever they would ; 
and promised good for a reward to them that do good, and 
evil to them that do evil. 

With God is prepared the zvell-spring of every good, and 
thence is prepared and granted to us every good of those 
which we have ; He shieldeth us against every evil. Nothing 
is above Him, but all things are under Him, or with Him, or 



8 King Alfred's [ii.i— 12.17 

in Him, He created man in His own image, and every man 
who knoweth himself knoweth that all this is true. To that 
God I cry, and say: 

Hear me, hear me, O Lord, for Thou art my God and 
my Lord, my Father, and my Creator, and my Governor, and 
my hope, and my riches, and my honor, and my house, and 
my inheritance, and my salvation, and my life. Hear me, 

Lord, hear me, Thy servant. Few understand Thee. 
Thee alone I love truly above all other things ; Thee I 

seek, Thee I folloiv, Thee I am ready to serve ; under Thy 
rule I wish to dwell, for Thou alone reignest. I pray Thee 
to command me what Thou zvilt; but heal and open mine 
eyes that I may see Thy wonders, and drive from me folly 
and pride, and give me wisdom that I may understand Thee, 
and teach me whither I should look to behold Thee; then 
shall I, methinks, do gladly that w^hich Thou commandest 
me. 

I beseech Thee, Thou merciful, benevolent, and bene- 
ficent Lord, to receive me. Thy fugitive ; since once I was 
formerly Thine, and then fled from Thee to the devil, and 
fulfilled his will, enduring much misery in his service. But 
if to Thee it seemeth as it doth to me, long enough have I 
felt the pains which I have now suffered, and longer have I 
served Thy foes than I should those whom Thou hast [under 
Thy feet].^ Long enough have I been in the reproach and 
shame which they brought on me; but do Thou receive me 
now, Thine own servant, for I am fleeing from them. Be- 
hold, did they not receive me even before I had fled from 
Thee to them? Never again restore me to them, now that 

1 have sought Thee, but open to me Thy door, and teach 
me how to come. I have naught to bring Thee but good 
will, for I myself have nothing else, nor know I aught 
better than to love the heavenly and the spiritual above the 
earthly; and this I do, good Father, since I know naught 
better than that. But I know not how I shall now come 
to Thee except Thou teach me; teach it, then, to me, and 

^ Supplied from the Latin. 



12.17— 14-S] St. Augustine 9 

help me. If it is by faith that they find Thee who do find 
Thee, give me that faith. If by any other power they find 
Thee who do find Thee, give me that power. If by wisdom 
they find Thee who find Thee, then give me wisdom. Aug- 
ment in me the hope of eternal life, and increase Thy love 
in me. 

O, how wonderful is Thy goodness, for it is unlike all 
other good things. I desire to come«to Thee ; and all that I 
have need of on the way I desire from Thee, and chiefly 
that without which I can not come to Thee. If Thou for- 
sake me, I perish; yet I know that Thou wilt not forsake 
me unless I forsake Thee; nor zvill I forsake Thee, for 
Thou art the highest good. There is none who rightl)^ seek- 
eth Thee that doth not find Thee. He alone seeketh Thee 
aright whom Thou teachest aright to seek Thee, and how 
he should seek Thee. O, good Father, free me entirely from 
the error in which I have hitherto wandered, and yet wan- 
der; and teach me the way in which no foe can encounter 
me before I come to Thee. If I love naught above Thee, 
I beseech Thee that I may find Thee ; and if I desire any 
thing beyond measure and wrongly, deliver me from it. 
Make me worthy to behold Thee. 

Thou most ancient and most wise Father, I commit to 
Thee my body, that Thou mayest keep it whole. Yet I 
know not what I ask — whether I am asking^ a thing use- 
ful or useless to me or to the friends whom I love and zvho 
love me; nor do I know how long Thou wilt keep it whole. 
Therefore I commit and commend it to Thee, for Thou 
knowest better than I zvhat I need. Wherefore I pray Thee 
alway to teach me, while I am in this body and this world, 
and help me alway to utter the counsel which is pleasing 
to Thee, and which is best and most righteous for me in 
this life. But above all other things I earnestly pray Thee 
to convert me wholly to Thee, and let nothing overcome 
me on this way, to prevent me from coming to Thee; and 
cleanse Thou me while I am in this world, and make me 
humble. Give me loftiness of soul. Make me reasonable 



10 King Alfred's [i4-5— i5i5 

and just and prudent and perfect; and, O God, make me 
a lover of Thy wisdom and a perceiver of it, and make me 
worthy to dwell in Thy blessed kingdom. Amen! 

Now I have done as thou didst teach me; now I have 
prayed even as thou badest me. Then answered me my 
Reason and said: 

R. I see that thou hast prayed; but say now what thou 
hast merited, or what thou wouldst have. 

A. I would miderstand all, and know what I just now 
said. 

R. Sum up, then, from all that thou hast just spoken 
about, that which seeuieth to thee that thou most needest 
and most requirest to knozu; then clothe it in few words, 
and tell it to me. 

A. I zvill tell it to thee at once: I would understand God 
and know mine own soul. 

R. Wouldst thou know any thing more? 

A. Many things I fain zvould know that I know not. 
Howbeit there is nothing I wish more to know than this. 

R. Then inquire after and seek what thou askest, and 
tell me first what thou knowest with most certainty, and 
then say to me: 'Sufficiently known will God and my soul 
be to me, if they shall be as zvell known to me as this 
thing/ 

A. I can name nothing so well known to me as I would 
that God were. 

R. What, then, can we do, if thou knowest not the 
measure? Thou oughtest to know when it seemed to thee 
enough, and if thou ever come to that limit, then thou 
shouldst go no further, but shouldst seek something else, lest 
thou shouldst desire any thing beyond measure. 

A. I know what thou wishest; I should illustrate to 
thee by some example ; but I can not, for I know naught 
like unto God, so that I can say to thee : 'I should like to 
know God as well as I know this thing.' 



i5.i6— 17.8] St. Augustine il 

R. I am astonished at thee, why thou sayest that thou 
knowest nothing Hke unto God, and yet dost not know what 
He is. 

A. If I knew aught Hke unto Him, I would love that 
thing exceedingly. Since I know naught like unto Him, I 
love nothing but Him and mine own soul ; howbeit, I know 
not what either of them is. 

R. Thou sayest that thou lovest naught hut God and 
thy soul; if that is true, lovest thou then no other friend? 

A. Why, if I love a soul, do I not love my friend? 
Hath not he a soul? 

R. If thou lovest thy friend because he hath a soul, 
zvhy, then, lovest thou not every thing that hath a soul? 
Why dost thou not love mice and fleas? 

A. I love them not, because they are carnal animals, 
not men. 

R. Have not thy friends likewise bodies, even as beasts 
have ? 

A. Yet it is not on this account I love them, but because 
they are men, and have reason in their minds — that quality 
I love even in slaves. Those that I hate, I hate because 
they turn the good of reason into evil, since I am allowed 
both to love the good and to hate the evil. Therefore I 
love all my friends, some less, some more; and him whom 
I love more than another, I love him so much more than 
the other as I perceive that he hath a better will than the 
other, and the desire to make his reason more serviceable. 

R. Thou understandest it well enough, and rightly 
enough. But if any one should now say to thee that he 
could teach thee how thou mightest. know God as well as 
thou knowest Alypius thy servant, would that seem enough 
to thee, or how much wouldst thou thank him for it? 

A. I should thank him, but nevertheless I would not 
answer 'enough.' 

R. Why? 

A. Alypius is better known to me than God, yet even 
him I know not so well as I would. 



12 King Alfred's [17.9— ig.2 

R. Look to it now that thy desire be not beyond meas- 
ure, now that thou comparest them together. Woiildst thou 
know God just as thou dost Alypius? 

A. Nay; nor do I make them the more aHke, albeit I 
name them together. But I say that one often knoweth 
more about higher than about lowlier things. I know now 
about the moon, how it zvill move to-morrozv and other 
nights; but, I know not what I shall eat to-morrow, which 
is a baser matter. 

R. Then wouldst thou know enough about God, if He 
should be as well known to thee as the motion of the moon — 
in what constellation it now is, or into which it is going 
next? 

A. Nay ; I wish that He were better known to me than 
the moon which I see with mine eyes. Yet I do not know 
but that God may, for some secret reasons, which we know 
not, change it in another wise; then should I be perplexed 
in what I now imagine I know about it. But I would have 
such knowledge about God, in my reason and in my under- 
standing, that nothing could disturb me, nor bring me into 
any doubt. 

R.' Dost thou believe, therefore, that I can make thee 
wiser about God than thou now art about the moon? 

A. Yea; I believe it, but I should prefer to know it, for 
we believe all that we know, and we are ignorant of man^' 
things which we believe. 

R. Methinks that thou dost not trust the external 
senses — eyes, ears, smell, taste, and touch — as a means of 
clearly understanding zvhat thou zvouldst, unless thou com- 
prehend it in the mind by the reason. 

A. That is true; I trust them not. 

R. Wouldst thou know thy servant, whom we were just 
now speaking of, with the outer senses, or with the inner? 

A. I know him now as well as I can know him with the 
external senses; but I should like to know his mind with 
my mind; then I should know what was his loyalty 
toward me. 



19.3— 20.17] St. Augustine 13 

R. Can one know otherwise than zvith the mind? 

A. It doth not seem to me that I can know it as I would. 

R. Dost thou, then, not know thy servant? 

A. How can I know him, seeing I am not certain that I 
know myself? It is said in the law that one shall love his 
neighbor even as himself. How then do I know in what 
way I should love him, if I do not know whether I love 
myself? Nor do I know how he loveth me; yet I know 
that it is the same with him in regard to me. 

R. If thou with the inner sense wouldst know God, why 
pointest thou me to the outer senses, as if thou wouldst see 
Him bodily, just as thou formerly saidst thou sawest the 
moon? I know not therefore how thou teachest it to me, 
nor can I teach it to any one, by the outer senses. But tell 
me whether it seemeth enough for thee to know God as 
Plato and Plotinus knew him? 

A. I dare not say that it would seem to me enough, 
because I know not whether it seemed to them enough in 
regard to that which they knew. I know not whether it 
seemed to them that they needed to know more of Him, but 
even so they formerly seemed to me.^ When I prayed, 
methought I did not so fully understand that which I be- 
sought as I would. But I still could not forbear to speak 
about it, just as it seemed to me that I needed, and just as 
I supposed it was. 

R. Methinks nozv it seemeth to thee that it is one thing 
to knozv, and quite another only to suppose. 

A. Yea, so methinks; therefore I zvould nozv that thou 
tell me zvhat difference there is betzveen these, or zvhat one 
certainly knozveth. 

R. Knozvest thou that thou didst learn the science zuhich 
zve call geometry? In that science thou learnedst on a 
hall, or an apple, or a painted egg, that thou might est by the 
painting understand the motion of the heavens and the 
course of the stars. Knozvest thou that thou didst learn in 
the same science about a line drazvn along the middle of 

^ Doubtful rendering of and swa-stva me er puhton. 



14 King Alfred's [20.17—22.10 

the hallf Knozvest thou zvhat zvas there taught thee about 
the positions of the twelve stars and the path of the sun? 

A. Yea; I know well enough what the line signifieth. 

R. Now that thou sayest thou doubtest this no whit, 
dost thou not fear the Academicians, those philosophers ivho 
said that there was never anything certain beyond a doubt? 

A. Nay; I do not fear them much, for they said that 
there never was a wise man. Therefore I am not at all 
ashamed not to be wise, for I know that as yet I am not 
wise; but if I ever become as wise as they, then I will do 
as they teach, until I can say that I know without doubt 
zvhat I seem to myself to knozv. 

R. I do not object at all to thy doing so. But thou 
sayest thou knowest about the line which was painted on 
the ball on which thou learnedst the revolution of this 
heaven; I would know whether thou also knowest about 
the ball on zvhich the line is drazvn. 

A. Yea; I know both. No man can mistake that. 

R. Didst thou learn with the eyes or with the mind? 

A. With both : first with the eyes, then with the mind. 
The eyes brought me to the understanding ; but after I had 
perceived it, I left off looking with the eyes, and reflected, 
for it seemed to me that I could contemplate much more of 
it than I could see, after the eyes had fixed it in my mind. 
Just so a ship bringeth one over the sea; zvhen he cometh 
ashore, he letteth the ship stand, for it seemeth to him that 
he can travel m.ore easily zvithout it than with it. How- 
ever, it seemeth easier to me to travel by skiff on dry land 
than to learn any science with the eyes, but without the 
reason — though the eyes must at times give aid. 

R. Therefore thou must needs look rightly zvith the 
eyes of the mind to God, just as the ship's anchor-cable is 
stretched direct from the ship to the anchor, and fasten the 
eyes of thy mind on God, just as the anchor is fastened in 
the earth. Though the ship be out among the sea-billows, 
it will remain sound and unbroken if the cable holdeth, since 
one end of it is fast to the earth and the other to the ship. 



22.11—247] St. Augustine 15 

A. What is that which thou callcst the mind's eyes? 

R. Reason, in addition to other virtues. 

A. What are the other virtues? 

R. Wisdom, and humility, and honor, and moderation, 
and righteousness, and mercy, and prudence, and constancy, 
and benevolence, and chastity, and abstinence. With these 
anchors thou art able to fasten to God the cable that shall 
hold the ship of thy mind. 

A. May the Lord God make me entirely as thou teach- 
est me [to be']. I would if I could, but I can not under- 
stand how I shall be able to obtain these anchors, or how 
I shall fasten them, except thou teach it to me more clearly. 

R. I could teach thee, but I ought first to ask thee hoiv 
many of this zvorld's lusts thou hast renounced for God. 
After thou hast told me that, then I can say to thee zvith- 
out any doubt that thou hast obtained so many of the 
anchors as thou hast renounced the lusts of the world. 

A. Hozv can I forsake that zvhich I know and am 
familiar with, and have been used to from childhood, and 
love that which is unknozvn to me except by hearsay? 
Howbeit, I feel sure that if I knezv what thou sayest about 
me as certainly as what I here see for myself, I zuoidd love 
that, and despise this. 

R. I zvonder zvhy thou spcakest so. Suppose now if 
a letter zvith seal from thy lord should come to thee, canst 
thou say thou art not able to understand him by that, nor 
to recognise his zvill therein? If thou sayest that thou 
canst know his will therein, say then whether it seemeth to 
thee better to follozv his zvill, or to follow after the wealth 
which he gave thee over and above his friendship. 

A. Whether I will or not, I must speak truly, unless I 
am prepared to lie. If I lie, God knoweth it. Therefore I 
dare speak only the truth, so far as I can knozv it. Me- 
thinks it is better to forsake the gift, and follow the giver, 
who is to me the stezvard both of the riches and of his 
friendship, unless I can have both. I should like, however, 



1 6 King Alfred's [24.7—25.23 

to have both, if I could folloxv both the zvealth and also his 
will. 

R. Full rightly hast thou answered me, but I zvould 
ask thee whether thou supposest that thou canst have all 
that thou now hast zvithout thy lord's friendship. 

A. I do not suppose that any man is so foolish as to 
thijik that. 

R. Thou understandest it rightly enough, but I would 
knozv zvhether thou thinkest that what thou hast is tem- 
poral or eternal. 

A. I never supposed it to be eternal. 

R. What thinkest thou about God and the anchors which 
zve spake of — are they like these, or are they eternal? 

A. Who is so mad as to dare say that God is not eternal f 

R. If He is eternal, zvhy lovest thou not the eternal 
Lord more than the temporal? Lo, thou knowest that the 
Eternal will not leave thee, except thou go from Him; and 
thou must needs depart from the other whether thou zvill 
or no; thou must either leave him, or he thee. Howbeit I 
perceive that thou lovest him very much, and also fearest 
and dost zvell; very rightly and very becomingly thou dost. 
But I wonder zvhy thou dost not love the Other much more, 
Him who giveth thee both the friendship of the worldly 
lord and His ozvn, and, after this zvorld, life eternal. The 
Lord is the ruler of you both — thine and thy lord's whom 
thou so immeasurably lovest. 

A. I confess to thee that I zvotdd love Him above all 
other things, if I coidd understand and know Him as I 
would. But I can understand very little of Him, or nothing 
at all, and yet at times, when I think carefidly of Him, and 
any inspiration cometh to me about the eternal life, then 
I by no means prefer this present life to that, nor even love 
it so much. 

R. Wishest thou now to see Him and clearly under- 
stand Him? 

A. I have no wish above that. 

R. Keep, then. His commandments. 



25-24—27.13] St. Augustine 17 

A. What commandments? 

R. I named them to thee before. 

A. Methinks they are very burdensome and very mani- 
fold. 

R. What one loveth, methinks, is not burdensome. 

A. Nor doth any work seem burdensome to me if I can 
see and have what I zvork for. But doubt begetteth heavi- 
ness. 

R. Thou grospest it well enough in speech, and well 
enough thou undcrstandest it. But I can say to thee that 
I am the faculty of Reason, which argueth with thee — the 
discursive faculty whose province it is to explain to thee in 
such wise that thou mayest see God with thy mind's eyes 
as clearly as thou now seest the sun with the eyes of the 
body. 

A. Almighty God reward thee! I am truly grateful for 
thy promise to teach it to me so clearly. Although I was 
ignorant, yet I emerge from this condition to a clearer vision 
of Him, if I come to see Him as I now see the sun. Howbeit 
I do not see the sun so clearly as I zvould like to. I knozv 
very little better what the sun is, though I look on it every 
day. Still it seemed good to me that I might thus clearly 
see God. 

R. Nozf consider very earnestly w'hat I formerly said to 
thee. 

A. I will, so much as possible. 

R. First know of a truth that the mind is the eye of 
the soul ; secondly, thou must know that it is needful for 
one to see what one looketh at ; the fourth is what one 
would see. For every one having- eyes first looketh at that 
which he would see till he hath beheld it. When he hath 
beheld it then he truly seeth it. But thou must know that 
I who now speak with thee am Reason, and I am to every 
human mind what looking is to the eyes. Three things it 
behooveth the eyes of every human body to have ; the fourth 
is what it seeketh and would draw to them. One is that 



i8 King Alfred's [27.13—29.13 

thou hast and usest and lovest that which thou formerly 
didst hope for. 

A. Alas! Shall I ever come to that zvhich I hope for, 
or shall that ever come to me which I desire? 

R. Add now love as a third besides faith and hope ; for 
the eyes of no soul are entirely sound — especially to see God 
with — if lacking these three. Seeing, then, is knowing. 

A. If then there be sound eyes, that is, perfect under- 
standing, what is then wanting to it, or what is more needful ? 

R. The soul's vision is Reason and Contemplation. But 
many souls look with these, and yet see not what they desire, 
because they have not entirely sound eyes. But he who 
wisheth to see God must have the eyes of his mind whole ; 
that is, he must have an abiding faith and a just hope and 
a full love. When he hath all these, then hath he life 
blessed and eternal. The vision which we shall catch of 
God is knowledge. That knowledge is between two 
things — between that which understandeth and that which 
is understood — and is fastened on both even as love is 
between the lover and the one loved. On both it is fastened, 
as we said before concerning the anchor-cable that the one 
end ivas fast to the ship, and the other to the land. 

A. Then if it ever again happeneth that I can see God 
as thou nozv teachest me that I should behold Him, ivould 
I need all three of the things that thou formerly spakest 
about, namely: faith and hope and love? 

R. What need then is there of faith, when one seeth 
that which he formerly exercised faith toward, and again 
knoweth that which he formerly hoped for ? But love never 
waneth — it abideth greatly increased when the understand- 
ing is fixed on God; nor hath love ever any end. Omni 
consummatione uidi finem; latum mandatum tuum nimis:^ 
that is, of everything in the world I shall see the end, but the 
end of thy commandments I shall never see. That is the 
love about which he prophesied. But, although the soul be 
perfect and pure while it is in the body, it can not see God 

^ Ps. 119. 96, inexactly quoted. 



29.13—30-27] St. Augustine • 19 

as it desireth, because of the sorrow and tribulation of the 
body, except with much labor through faith and hope and 
love. These ore the three anchors which sustain the ship 
of the mind in the midst of the dashing of the wares. 
Yet the mind hath much comfort because it believeth and 
clearly knoweth that the misfortunes and unhappiness of 
this zvorld are not eternal. So the ship's master,'^ zvhen the 
ship rideth most unsteadily at anchor and the sea is roughest, 
then knoweth of a truth that calm zveather is coming. Three 
things are needftd to the eyes of each soul: One is that they 
he whole; the second, that they should look at what they 
would see; the third, that they may see what they look at. 
For the three is God's help necessary, for one can neither do 
good nor any thing zvithout His aid. Therefore He is 
always to he entreated that He he ever helpful; therefore 
also He inspireth us and inciteth us first to he zv ell-wishing. 
and afterzvards zvorketh zvith us that zvhich He willeth till 
such time as we perfect it zvith Him; and especially He 
zvorketh zvith us as zvith some pozverfid tool, just as it is 
zvritten- that with each zvell-working person God is a co- 
zvorker. We knozv that no man can perform any good 
unless God work with him; hozvbeit no man must be so idle 
as not to begin something through the strength that God 
giveth him. 

A. Thou teachest me the right zvay. Nozu I knozv zvhat 
I ought to do; but I do not knozv whether I can or can not. 

R. Thou oughtest not to despair because thou canst not 
come at once to that zvhich thou desirest for thyself. Can 
he who zvould learn a science ever do so in a short time, 
a little more or a little less? Thine is the science of all 
sciences, to zvit, that one shotdd seek after God and look 
toward Him and see Him. 

A. Well thou adz'isest me; hut I recall what thou didst 
formerly promise me, and very joyfully I abide that promise; 

* Translating MS., ho feut, emended to hlaford at the suggestion 
of Professor Cook. Cf. translator's ed. of the OE. version, 29. 20. 
' I Cor. 3. 9. 



20 King Alfred's [30.27—32.7 

thou didst promise to teach me how to see God with the 
eyes of my mind as clearly as I now see the sun with the 
eyes of my body. 

R. Well thou remindest me; I tvill do for thee what I 
promised. Call to mind now that thou canst see with thy 
body's eyes three things in regard to the sun : One is that 
it existeth ; another, that it shineth ; the third, that it 
lighteth up many things with its shining. All the things 
which are bright, when the sun shineth on them, shine 
against it, each after its ozvn kind. But those things which 
are not bright shine not against the sun, although it shineth 
on them. But the sun shineth, nevertheless, on them, and 
yet he who looketh toward it can not see it wholly just as it 
is. All this and more thou canst observe concerning God. 
He is the high Sun. He always abideth, lighting up with 
His own light both the sun which we see with bodily eyes 
and all creatures both spiritual and terrestrial. Therefore he 
scemeth to me a very foolish man zvho wisheth to understand 
Him just as He is, while we are yet in this world. Behold! 
I suppose that no one is so foolish that he becometh sorrow- 
ful because he can not see and understand, just as it is, the 
sun which we look at zvith corporeal eyes; but every one 
rejoiceth that at least he can understand according to the 
measure of his understanding. He doth well who desireth 
to understand the Eternal and Almighty Sun; but he doth 
very foolishly, if he wisheth to know Him- perfectly ivhile 
he is in this world. 

A. Very wonderfully and very truly thou teachest, and 
very much thou hast comforted me and brought me into 
good hope. But I pray still for what thou aforetime didst 
promise me. 

R. Two things I promised that I would accomplish and 
teach thee, to wit, to understand God and thyself. But I 
zvould know how thou desirest to understand that — whether 
thou wouldst beliez'e zvithout experience, or know by 
experience. 



32.8—33-19] St. Augustine 21 

A. I would kiiozv it by experience, for I know nothing 
of it surely. 

R. That is no wonder. I did not explain it to thee in 
such wise that thou couldst know it by experience; for 
there is yet something which thou must first know, to wit, 
whether we both are whole. 

A. Thou must know whether thou findest any health, 
either in me, or in thyself, or in us both. It becometh 
thee to teach and me to listen; and it becometh me to answer 
what I understand according to the measure of my wider- 
standing, if so be I understand it at all; if I do not under- 
stand it at all, then must I admit it and leave it to thy 
judgment. 

R. Wishest thou to know more than about God and 
thyself ? 

A. I answer thee that I do not zmsh anything more 
earnestly ; but I dare not promise thee that I shall not desire 
any thing else than that; for it is verily hidden from me, 
albeit something cometh into my mind which, methinks, 
nothing can hinder me from furthering and performing. 
When another thing cometh which seemeth to me more right 
and reasonable, then I leave off that which I formerly held 
enough ; and therefore at times it happeneth that something 
is so fixed in my mind, that I think I shall never let it go 
so long as I live. Howbeit there cometh to me then some 
trouble which occupieth me so that I can never leave it, nor 
can I perform it although I can not think of any better 
[thing to be done].^ But three things have troubled me 
most : One is, I fear that I must part with my friends whom 
I love most, or they with me — either for life or for death; 
the second is, I fear sickness, both the knozvn and the 
unknozvn; the third is, I fear death. 

R. I hear now what thou lovest most next to thine own 
reason and God: They are, the life of thy friends, and thine 
own health, and thine own life. Of these five things thou 
art afraid that thou shalt lose some, because thou lovest 

* Supplied by translator. 



22 King Alfred's [3319— 35-8 

them all very much. If thou didst not love them, then thou 
hadst not dreaded that thou wouldst lose them. 

A. I admit what thou sayest to me. 

R. Therefore methinks that I see thee very sad and 
greatly cast down in thy mind, because thou hast not such 
health as thou hadst; nor hast thou all thy friends with 
thee so agreeable and harmonious as thou wouldst. Nor 
doth it seem to me any zvonder that thou art sad for that 
reason. 

A. Thou understandest it rightly ; I can not gainsay 
that. 

R. If then it ever happen that thou shalt find thyself 
full whole and full strong, and hast all thy friends with thee, 
both in mind and in body, and in that same ivork and in 
that same zvill zvhich pleaseth thee best to do, wilt thou then 
be happy at all? 

A. Yea, verily; if it should now suddenly happen, I do 
not know Jiozv on earth I would begin. 

R. Hast thou not then still some trouble, such as immod- 
erate sorrow, either of mind or of body — seeing now thou 
hast those two things? Wert thou, therefore, foolish in 
heart, when thou didst wish that thou shouldst see with such 
eyes the high and everlasting Sun ? 

A. Now thou hast overcome me withal, so that I by no 
means know how much of health I have, nor how much of 
sickness. 

R. That is no wonder. No man hath such sound eyes 
that he can look any length of time toward the sun which 
we here see, much less if he have weak eyes. But those 
that have weak eyes can be more at ease in the darkness 
than in the light. Methinks, though, that it seemeth to thee 
that thou hast sound eyes. Thon thinkest of the health of 
thy soul's eyes, but thou dost not think of the great light 
zvhich thou zvishest to see. Be not zvrofh zvith me, albeit I 
question thee and examine thee, for I needs must do that. 
Methinks thou dost not understand thyself. 



35-9— 37-3] St. Augustine 23 

A. I am in no wise ivroth zuith thee, but rejoice in what 
thou sayestj because I know that thou seekest my good. 

R. Wishest thou any wealth? 

A. Long ago I resolved that I should despise it. I am 
now three and thirty years old, and I was one less than 
twenty when I first resolved that I would not love wealth 
overmuch. Though enough should come to me, I would 
not rejoice very much, nor enjoy it too immoderately, nor 
would I gain more to keep than I could fitly make use of, 
and keep and support the men on, whom I must help; and 
the residue I think as orderly to divide as I best am able 
so to do. 

R. Wishest thou any honor? 

A. I confess to thee that I did wish that till recently 
desire failed. 

R. Desirest thou not a beautiful wife, and withal modest 
and well instructed and of good manners and subject to thy 
will, and one who hath much substance and would not 
engross thee in any thing, nor hinder thee from enjoying 
leisure at thy will ? 

A. Dost thou not praise her overmuch that I may wish 
her all the more? For methinks there is nothing worse for 
him that willeth to serve God than to take a wife — though 
some one hath said that it is better to take one for the 
rearing of children. Howbeit I say that it is better for 
priests not to have a wife. Therefore I decided that I zvould 
take none, because I wished to be the freer to serve God. 

R. I hear now that thou dost not think to take a wife ; 
but I would know whether thou still hast any love or lust 
after any uncleanness. 

A. Why askest thou more about thatf I do not now 
desire that; but if lust ever cometh to me, I dread it as an 
adder. Ever the less is my desire for it, and ever the more 
I wish to see the light, even as I lust the less after this 
manner. 

R. How about food ? How much dost thou desire that ? 



24 King Alfred's [374—3913 

A. I desire none of those meats which I have renounced ; 
I desire those which- 1 have thought right to eat, when I see 
them. What shall I say more either about meat, or drink, 
or baths, or riches, or honor, or any zvorldly lusts? Nor do 
I wish any more of these than I shall need to have for my 
bodily comfort and to keep my strength. Howbeit I need 
much more for the zvants of those men zvhich I must take 
care of, and moreover this I needs must have. 

R. Thou art right. But I would know whether thy old 
covetousness and greediness he entirely extirpated and 
uprooted from thy mind, so that it can not still grow. 

A. Why askest thou that? 

R. I speak of the things which thou before saidst to 
me that thou hadst decided to leave off and for nothing 
would turn back to again, namely : overmuch wealth, and 
immoderate honor, and inordinately rich and luxurious liv- 
ing; and therefore I now ask whether, either for the love of 
them or for the love of any thing, thou wilt return to them 
again. I heard formerly that thou saidst that thou lovedst 
thy friends, next to God and thine own reason, above other 
things. Now I would know whether thou, for their love, 
wouldst lay hold of these things again. 

A. I will lay hold of all again for their love, if I can not 
else have their companionship — yet it doth not please me 
so to do. 

R. Very reasonably thou dost answer me and very 
rightly. Howbeit I understand that the lusts of the zvorld 
are not entirely uprooted from thy mind, although the trench 
be prepared; for the roots can sprout thence again. Yet I 
impute that not to thee as a fault, for thou layest hold of 
it not for the love of those things but for the love of this 
thing which it is more right to love than that. / never ask 
about any man, what he doth; but yet I ask thee now why 
thou lovest thy friends so much, or what thou lovest in them, 
or whether thou lovest them for their ozvn sake or for some 
other thing. 



39.14—41-19] St. Augustine 25 

A. I love them for friendship and for companionship, 
and above all others I love those zvho most help me to 
understand and to know reason and wisdom, most of all 
about God and about our souls; for I know that I can more 
easily seek after Him with their help than I can ivithout. 

R. How then if they do not wish to inquire after the One 
whom thou seek est f 

A, I shall teach them so that they will. 

R. But how then if thou canst not, and if they be so 
foolish as to love other things more than that which thou 
lovest, and say that they can not or will not? 

A. I, nevertheless, will have them: they will be helpful 
to me in some things and I likewise to them. 

R. But how then if they disturb thee, and if the infirmi- 
ties of the body hinder thee? 

A. That is true ; howbeit I would not fear at all the 
infirmities, ifjt tvere not for three things: One of these is 
heavy sorrow; another is death; the third is that I can not 
seek nor truly find zvhat I desire just as thou madest me 
knoiv. Toothache hindered me from all learning, but yet 
it did not altogether snatch from me the remembrance of that 
which I formerly learned. Howbeit I suppose, if I should 
understand certainly that which I yearn to understand, sor- 
row would seem to me very little, or else naught, compared 
with faith. Yet I know many a pain is much sharper than 
toothache, albeit I never suffered any sharper. I learned 
that Cornelius Celsus taught in his hooks that in every man 
wisdom is the highest good and sickness the greatest evil. 
The saying appeareth to me very true. Concerning the 
same thing the same Cornelius saith : 'Of two things we 
are what we are, to wit, of soul and of body. The soul is 
spiritual, and the body earthy. The best faculty of the soul 
is wisdom, and the worst affliction of the body is sickness.' 
Methinks moreover that this is not false. 

R. Have we not now shown clearly enough that wisdom 
is the highest good? Is it not also beyond a doubt that it 
is to every man the best of all the virtues? And is it not 



26 King Alfred's [41-19 — 4312 

his best work to search after wisdom, and love it whenever he 
findeth it ? But I would that we two might now search out 
who the lovers of this wisdom should be. Dost thou not 
know that every man who loveth another very much liketh 
better to caress and kiss the other on the bare body than 
where the clothes come betiveenf Now I understand that 
thou lovest wisdom very much, and wishest so much to know 
and feel it naked that thou woiildst not that any cloth 
were between; but it will seldom so openly reveal itself to 
any man. At those times when it will show any limb thus 
bare, it doth so to very few men; but I knozv not how thou 
canst receive it zvith gloved hands. Thou must also place 
the bare body against it, if thou wilt feel it. But tell me 
now, if thou lovedst a certain beautiful woman very im- 
moderately and above all other things, and if she fled from 
thee and would reciprocate thy love on no other condition 
than that thou wouldst renounce every other love for hers 
alone, wouldst thou then do as she wished? 

A. Alas! what a hard thing thou dost enjoin upon me! 
Didst thou not formerly admit that I loved nothing above 
ivisdom, and moreover I too admitted it, albeit thou saidst 
then that whoever loveth one thing for the sake of another, 
he doth not of a truth love that former thing for which 
he professeth love, but really that for which he loved the 
former thing and thought to obtain it. Therefore I assert 
that I love wisdom for no other thing than for its own sake. 
I love all the world — each thing as I consider it profitable, 
and especially that thing most which helpeth me to wisdom ; 
and moreover those things which I fear most to lose. How- 
beit I do not love any thing else in such wise as I love wis- 
dom. Every thing which I love most I grant, while I love it 
most, to no man but to myself, except wisdom alone. It I 
love above all other things, and yet of my free will I would 
grant it to every man, so that all who are on this earth 
might love it and search after it, yea, find it, and then 
use it ; for I know that each of us would love the other by 
so much more as our will and our love were more in unison. 



43-13— 44-24] St. Augustine 27 

R. Said I not formerly that he who would feel the bare 
body must feel it with bare hands? And I say also, if thou 
wilt behold wisdom itself thus bare, that thou must not allow 
any cloth betioeen thine eyes and it, nor even any mist; albeit 
to that thou canst not come in this present life, though I 
enjoin it tipon thee, and though thou wish it. Wherefore 
no man ought to despair, though he have not so sound eyes 
as he who can look the sharpest ; even he who can look the 
sharpest of all can not himself see the sun just as it is while 
he is in this present life. Yet no man hath such weak eyes 
that he can not live by the sun and use it, if he can see at 
all, unless he be purblind. Moreover, I can teach unto thee 
other parables about wisdom. Consider now zvhether any 
man seeketh there the king's home where he is in town, or 
his court, or his army, or whether it seemeth to thee that 
they all must come thither by the same road; on the con- 
trary, I suppose they would come by very many roads: some 
would come from afar, and would have a road very long and 
very bad and very difficult; some zvoidd have a very long 
and very direct and very good road; some woidd have a 
very short and yet hard and strait and foul one; some would 
have a short and smooth and good one; and yet they all 
would come to one and the same lord, some more easily, 
some with more difficulty; neither do they come thither with 
like ease, nor are they there alike at ease. Some are in more 
honor and in more ease than others; some in less, some 
almost without, except the one that he loveth. So is it 
likewise with wisdom. Each one who wisheth it and who 
anxiously prayeth for it, he can come to it and abide in its 
household and live near it; yet some are nearer it, others 
farther from it; just so is every king's court: some dwell 
in cottages, some in halls, some on the threshing-floor, some 
in prison; and yet they all live by the favor of one lord, 
just as all men live under one sun, and by its light see what 
they see. Some look very carefidly and very clearly; some 
see with great difficulty; others are stark blind, yet use 
the sun. But just as the visible sun lighteth the eyes of our 



28 King Alfred's [44.25—46.10 

body, so zvisdom lighteth the eyes of our mind, zvhich is our 
understanding. And just a^ the eyes of the body are more 
sound, thus to use more of the sun's light, so is it also with 
the mind's eyes, that is, the understanding: just by so much 
as that is sounder, by so much more may it see the eternal 
sun, which is wisdom. Every man that hath sound eyes 
needeth no other guide nor teacher to see the sun, except 
health. If he hath sound eyes, he may himself look at the 
sun. On the contrary, if he hath unsound eyes, then he 
needeth that one teach him to look first on the wall, then 
on gold, and on silver ; when he can more easily look on 
that, [then let him look] ^ on fire, before he looketh at the sun. 
Then after he hath learned that his eyes do not at all avoid 
the fire, let him look on the stars and on the moon, then on 
sunshine, before he looketh on the sun itself. And just so 
with the other sun that we formerly spake of, that is, wis- 
dom. He who wisheth to see it with his mind's e)^es must 
begin very gradually, and then little by little mount nearer 
and nearer by steps, just as if he zvere climbing on a ladder 
and wished to ascend some sea-cliff. If he then ever 
Cometh up on the cliff, he may look both over the shore and 
over the sea, zvhich then lieth beneath him, and also over 
the land that formerly was above him. But if it seemeth 
good to us, let us stop here for this day, and to-morrow seek 
further after the same thing which Ave before sought after. 

A. Nay, not at all; but I humbly pray thee that thou 
weary not, 7tor leave off the conversation here; but say 
somezvhat more clearly about it so that I may more clearly 
feel and understand something concerning this zvisdom, 
and bid me what thou wilt. I will understand it, if it lies in 
my power. 

R. I know not anything to command thee of which thou 
hast more need for the science which thou wishest to know, 
than that thou despise, so much as thou art able, worldly 
honors, and especially intemperate and unlawful ones, be- 
cause I fear that they may bind thy mind to themselves and 

^ Supplied by translator. 



46.10—48.6] St. Augustine 29 

take it with their snare, just as one catcheth wild beasts or 
fowls, so that thou canst not accomplish what thou wishest ; 
for I know that the freer thou art from the things of this 
world, the more clearly thou shalt understand about the wis- 
dom which thou desirest ; and if it ever happen that thou 
canst so entirely forsake them that thou desirest naught 
of them, then shall I be able to say to thee forsooth (believe 
me if thou wilt), that in that very hour thou shalt know all 
that thou wishest now to know, and shalt have all that thou 
wishest to have. 

A. When shall that be? I do not believe that it will 
ever be that I shall not yearn at all after this world's honors, 
unless one thing happen, namely : that I see those honors 
zvhich thou proniisest me. Hozvbeit I know not that it 
would please me so zvell to yearn no more after this ivorld's 
honors. 

R. Now methinks thou dost not answer me with reason. 
Methinks that thou speakest very much as if thine eyes 
should say to thy mind : 'We will never avoid the darkness 
of the night until we can see the sun itself.' Thus, methinks, 
the eyes do, if they avoid that part of the sun's light which 
they can see. It can not happen even to the soundest of all 
eyes that they can look from this world and see the sun as 
it is. By this thou mayest conclude that thou oughtest not 
to sigh though thou canst not see wisdom naked with the 
eyes of thy mind just as it is; for thou canst never do that 
while thou art in the darkness of thy sins. But enjoy the 
wisdom tvhich thou hast, and haz'e joy in the part which 
thou canst understand, and seek more with thy zvhole heart. 
Wisdom itself knozveth zvhat thou art zvorthy of, and how 
much it may shozv itself to thee. There is naught worse in 
a man than to suppose that he is zvorthy of zvhat he is not. 
The physician knozveth better than the sick whether he can 
be healed or not, or zvhcther he can be healed by mild or by 
severe treatment. Therefore thou must not excuse thyself 
too much, nor sigh too much after aught. The eyes of thy 
mind are not so zvholly sound as thou dost suppose. 



30 King Alfred's [487— 4918 

A. Cease, O cease ! Do not vex me, nor increase my 
sorrow. Enough have I, though thou increase it not. 
Thou seekest it at times so high, at times so deep, that 
I understand nozu that I am not such as I supposed, but I 
am ashamed that I supposed that zvhich was not. Truly 
enough thou hast said. The Physician whom I wish to heal 
me knoweth how sound my eyes are. He knoweth what He 
wisheth to show me. To Him I commit myself, and to His 
goodness I entrust myself. May He do unto me according 
to His will ! On Him I call, that He may make fast my soul 
to Him. I will never again say that I have sound eyes until 
I see zuisdom itself. 

R. I know no better advice for thee than thou formerly 
saidst. But leave off woe and sorrow, and be measurably 
happy. Thou wert formerly too immoderately sorrowful, 
for sorrozv injureth both mind and body. 

A. Thou wouldst restrain my weeping and my sorrow, 
and still I perceive no limit to my misery and misfortunes. 
Thou bidst me leave off sorrow lest I, either in mind 
or in body, be weaker; yet I find no strength, either in 
mind or body, but am full nigh in despair. But I beseech 
thee, if thou in any wise canst, to lead me by some shorter 
way, somewhat nearer the light of the understanding which 
I long ago desired and yet could not come by in my ignor- 
ance ; notwithstanding that I may afterwards be ashamed to 
look again toward the darkness which I formerly desired to 
forsake, if ever I draw nigh to the light. 

R. Let us now end this book here properly, and name a 
shorter way in another book, if we can. 

A. Nay, nay ; let us not leave this book yet until I am 
able to understand that which we are after. 

R. Methinks I ought to do as thou bidst me. Some- 
thing draweth me on, I know not what, but I surmise it is 
the God thou seekest after. 

A. Thanks be to Him that adviseth thee, and to thee 
also, if thou praise Him. Lead whither thou wilt: / zvill 
follozu after thee if I can. 



49.19—52.2] St. Augustine 3^ 

R. Methinks thou desirest still to know that same thing 
about God and thy soul which thou didst formerly desire. 

A. Yea, that alone I desire. 

R. Wishest thou aught more? Wishest thou not to 
know truth? 

A. How can I, without truth, know aught of truth, or 
what wilt thou say, without truth, that God is? For we 
hear it read in the Gospel that Christ said that He is the 
way, the truth, and the life. 

R. Rightly thou sayest; but I would know whether it 
seemeth to thee that the true and truth are one [and the 
same thing] . 

A. Two things, methinks, they are, just as wisdom is 
one thing, and that zvhich is wise is another; and likewise 
chastity is one thing, and that which is chaste is another. 

R. Which, then, doth seem to thee better, the true or 
truth ? 

A. Truth; for all that is true is so because of truth; 
and every thing that is chaste is so because of chastity ; and 
he zvho is wise is so because of zvisdorn. 

R. Thanks he to God that thou understandest it so well. 
Howheit I would knotv zvhether thou suppose, if a zvise man 
zvere dead, zvisdorn zvould be dead. Or again, if a chaste 
man were dead, chastity would be dead. Or if a truthful 
man were dead, would truth then be dead. 

A. Nay, nay, verily ; that can not come to pass. 

R. Well dost thou understand it. But I would know 
whether thou suppose that wisdom is gone, or chastity, or 
truth, when the man passeth away ; or zvhence they formerly 
came, or where they are, if they exist? Or zvhether they be 
corporeal, or spiritual? For no man doubteth that every 
thing that is existeth somewhere. 

A. Very searching is thy question, and pleasant for him 
to knozu zvho can knozv it. What is wanting to him who 
knozvetli that? 

R. Canst thou recognise the righteous and the un- 
righteous? 



32 King Alfred's [52.3— 53- 19 

A. Yea, to some extent; not, however, as I would. But 
I would like to know what thou formerly didst ask. 

R. I luonder why thou hast so completely forgotten zvhat 
thou only a little before didst admit that thou knewest. 
Didst thou not say before that thou knewest truth to be 
eternal, although the true man passed away? And now 
thou sayest, 'If it existeth.' 

A. That same thing I say still. I know that it abideth, 
although the true man passeth away. 

R. All that is true abideth while it doth exist ; hut that 
zuhich thou callest truth is God. He ever zvas, and ever zvill . 
be, immortal and eternal. God hath all knowledge in Him- 
self sound and perfect. He hath made tivo eternal things, 
to wit, angels and men's souls, to zvhich He gave some 
portion of eternal gifts, such as zvisdom and righteousness, 
and many others zvhich it secmcth to us too numerous to 
count. To angels He giveth according to their capacity, 
and to the souls of men He giveth gifts according to 
the capacity of each. These same they need never lose, for 
they are everlasting, and to men He giveth many and divers 
good gifts in this zvorld, although they be not eternal. 
Hozvbeit they are serviceable zvhile we are in this world. 
Dost thou yet understand that soids are immortal? If thou 
hast understood it, do not conceal it from me, hut confess 
it. If it is otherzvise, tell me then. 

A. Thanks be to God for the part I know. I will now 
consider this and hold it as I best can, and if I have doubts 
about any thing, I will promptly tell them to thee. 

R. Believe firmly in God, and commit thyself wholly to 
God, and seek not too much the fulfilling of thine own will 
above His ; but be His servant, not thine own ; and confess 
that thou art His servant. Then He will raise thee ever 
nearer and nearer to himself, and will not let any adversity 
befall thee. Howbeit if He permit any adversity to befall 
thee, it will be for thy good, although thou canst not under- 
stand it. 



53-20— 54-6] St. Augustine 33 

A. That I both hear and beHeve, and this instruction I 
will follow as I best can, and will pray God that I may 
fulfil it as thou long ago didst instruct me; do thou now 
teach me, if thou wilt. 

R. Do this for me first, and tell me again, after thou hast 
studied this, zvhat thou likest of this; and if thou doubtest 
aught about any of these things, then tell it to me. 

Here endeth the anthology of the first book. 



..D^C. 



BOOK II 
Here beginneth the anthology of the second book. 

A. Alas ! Long have we been unoccupied, yet we have 
not sought after what thou didst promise me. 

R. Let us make amends for it; let us carry it forward 
into another book. 

A. Yea, let us indeed. 

R. Let us believe that God is our Helper. 

A. Truly would I that we believed it, if I had power. 
But methinks faith is not in our power, in such measure as 
zve seek, unless God give it to us. 

R. Both faith and all the good that we shall have. 
Therefore I knozv not what else we can do zvithout His help. 
Howbeit I advise thee that thou begin it. Pray in as few 
words as thou most sincerely canst, and ask for that which 
is and may be most needful for thee. 

A. Then said I: 'Lord, Lord, Thou who remainest 
unchangeable, grant me these two things which I always 
ivished, to wit, that I may understand Thee and myself.' 
Now I have done as thou didst instruct me; truly have I 
prayed. 

R. Now I hear zvhat thou zmshesf to know. Howbeit I 
would first learn from thee whether thou knowest without 
doubt that thou dost exist or not ; or that thou dost live or 
dost not live. 

A. These are two things which I certainly know. 

R. What now wishest thou to know ? 

A. Whether I be immortal. 

R. I hear that thou wouldst live always. 

A. That I confess. 

R. Wilt thou, then, know enough if I cause thee to 
know that thou mayest live always? 

A. That is a very good desire; yet say what I ask thee 
about: zvhether I shall live always; and then I would 



$6 King Alfred's [56.13—58.22 

know whether I, after the parting of the body and the 
soul, shall ever know more than I now know of all that 
which I have long wished to know; for I can not find any 
thing better in man than that he know, and nothing worse 
than that he be ignorant. 

R. Now I know all that thou wishest: One thing 
is, thou wouldst exist; another, thou wouldst live; the 
third, thou wouldst know. And I know also why thou 
wishest these three things : Thou wouldst exist in order to 
live, and thou wouldst live in order to know. And these 
three things I hear that thou certainly knowest: Thou 
knowest that thou art, and thou knowest that thou livest, 
and thou also knowest that thou knowest something, albeit 
thou knowest not all that thou wouldst know. 

A. That is true. These three things I know, and these 
three things I desire. I would exist in order that I may 
live. What zvould I care zvhether I existed, if I lived not? 
Or what would I care for life, if I knew nothing? 

R. Now I hear that thou lovest all that thou dost love 
on account of these three things, and I know also which of 
the three things thou lovest most. Thou lovest to exist 
because thou wouldst live, and thou wouldst live in order 
to know. Thus I perceive that thou lovest wisdom above 
all other things. That, methinks, is the highest good, and 
also thy God. 

A. Truth thou sayest to me. What is the highest wis- 
dom other than the highest good? Or what is the highest 
good except that every man in this world love God as 
much as he loveth wisdom — zvhether he love it much, or 
little, or moderately? So much as he loveth zuisdom, so 
much doth he love God. 

R. Very rightly thou hast understood it. But I would 
we began again where we were before. Now thou knowest 
that thou art, and that thou livest, and that thou knowest 
something, albeit not so much as thou zvouldst; and a fourth 
thing thou wouldst also know, to wit, whether the three 
things all be eternal or not, or zvhether any of them be 



58.22—59-27] St. Augustine 37 

eternal; or, if they are all eternal, whether any of them 
after this world in the eternal life shall either become worse 
or wane. 

A. All my yearning hast thou understood very well. 

R. About what doubtcst thou now? Didst thou not 
before confess that God is eternal and almighty, and hath 
created tvuo rational and eternal creatures, as we before said, 
namely: angels and men's souls, to which He hath given 
eternal gifts? These gifts they need never lose. If thou 
now rememberest this and believest this, then knowest thou 
beyond doubt that thou art, and always zvilt be, and always 
wilt love, and always wilt knozv something, albeit thou 
mayest not knozv all that thou wouldst. Now thou knowest 
about those three things that thou askedst about, namely: 
(i) Whether thou art immortal; (2) Whether thou shalt 
know something throughout eternity; (3) Whether thou, 
after the parting of the body and the soul, shalt knozv more 
than thou now knozvest, or less. After the fourth zve shall 
still seek — now that thou knozvest the three — until thou also 
knozv that. 

A. Very orderly thou dost explain it, but I zvill yet 
say to thee what I firmly believe, and about what I 
yet doubt. I do not doubt at all about God's immortality 
and about His omnipotence, for it can not be else respecting 
the trinity and the unity, zvhich zvas without beginning and 
is without end. Therefore I can not otherzvise believe, for 
He hath created so great and so many and so zvonderful 
visible creatures; and He ruleth them all and directeth 
them all, and at one time adorneth them zvith the most win- 
some appearances, while at another time He taketh away 
their adornments and beauties. He ruleth the kings who 
have the most power on this earth — zvho like all men are 
born, and also perish like other men. Then He letteth them 
ride zvhile He zvilleth. For such and for many such things 
I do not know hozv I can doubt His eternity; and also about 
the life of our souls I do not now doubt any more. But I 
doubt yet about the eternity of soids, whether they are 
immortal. 



38 King Alfred's [59-28—60.29 

R. About what dost thou doubt f Are not all the holy 
books well nigh full of the immortality of the soul? But 
methinks that too long to enumerate now in full, and too 
. long for thee to hear. 

A. I have heard a good deal of it, and I also believe it; 
but I desire rather to know it than to believe it. 

R. I wonder why thou yearnest to know so very much 
and so certainly what no man in the prison of this present 
life ever so certainly could know as thou wishest, although 
many yearn to understand it more clearly in this present 
life than many others believe it from the sayings of 
these and truthful men. No one can ever understand all 
that he would, till the sotd be parted from the body; nor 
indeed before Doomsday so clearly as he would. And 
yet the holy Fathers that were before us knew very truly 
about that which thou before didst ask, to wit, about the 
immortality of men's souls, which zvas so clear to them that 
they had no doubt, since they despised this present life'^ 
. . . they would be parted; and just as they endured the 
greatest torments in this world, so they woidd afterward 
have the greater reward in the eternal life. Through the 
sayings of such men we should infer that we can not under- 
stand it as clearly as they could; howbeit as regards the 
immortality of the soul, if thou dost not yet assent to it, 
I will make thee to understand it, and I will also cause thee 
to be ashamed that thou understoodest it so slowly. 

A. Even so do! Cause me to be ashamed therefor. 

R. Behold, I know that thou hast to-day the lord zvhom 
thou trustest in all things better than thyself; and so also 
hath many a servant zvho hath a less poiverful lord than 
thou hast; and I know that thou hast also many friends 
whom thou trustest well enough, though thou dost not trust 
them altogether so ivell as thou dost thy lord. How seemeth 
it to thee now, if thy lord should tell thee some news which 
thou never before heardest, or if he should say to thee 
that he saw something which thou never sawestf Doth it 

' A break in the MS. 



60.29—61.29] St. Augustine 39 

seem to thee that thou wouldst doubt his statement at all, 
because thou didst not see it thyself f 

A. Nay, nay, verily; there is no story so incredible that 
I would not believe it, if he should tell it. Yea, I even ■ 
have many companions, whom, if they should say that they 
themselves saw or heard it, I ivould believe just as well as 
if I myself sazv or heard it. 

R. I hear now that thou believest thy lord better than 
thyself, and thy companions quite as well as thyself. Thou 
dost very rightly and very reasonably, in that thou hasf 
such good faith in them. But I zvould that thou shouldst 
tell me whether Honorius, the son of Theodosius, seem to 
thee wiser or more truthful than Christ; the Son of God. 

A. Nay, verily nay; nowhere near! But methinks that 
it is difficult for thee to compare them together. Honorius 
is very good, although his father zvas better; the latter was 
very devout and very prudent and very rightly of my lord's 
kin; and so is he who still liveth there. I will honor them 
just as a man should a zvorldly lord, and the others of whom 
thou didst formerly speak just as their masters, and as one 
should the king who is the King of all kings, and the Creator 
and Ruler of all creatures. 

R. Now I hear that the Almighty God pleaseth thee 
better than Theodosius ; and Christ, the Son of God, better 
than Honorius, the son of Theodosius. I blame thee not 
that thou lovest both, but I advise thee to love the higher 
lords more, for they know all that they wish and can per- 
form all that they zvish. 

A. All that thou sayest is true. I believe it all. 

R. Nozu I hear that thou trustest the higher lord better. 
But I would know whether it seem to thee that thy zvorldly 
lords have zviser and truer servants than the higher lords 
have. Trustest thou nozv thyself and thy companions better 
than thou dost the Apostles, who zvere the servants of Christ 
Himself? Or the Patriarchs? Or the Prophets, through 
zvhom God Himself spake to His people zuhat He would? 

A. Nay, nay; I trust not ourselves so zvell, nor any- 
where near, as I do them. 



40 King Alfred's [61.30—62.30 

R. What spake God then more often, or zvhat said He 
more truly through His Prophets to His people than about 
the immortality of souls f Or zvhat spake the Apostles and 
all the holy Fathers more truly if not about the eternity of 
souls and about their immortality? Or what meant Christ, 
zvhen He said in His Gospel: 'The unrighteous shall go into 
eternal torments, and the righteous into eternal life'? Now 
thou hearest zvhat said Christ and His Apostles; and I 
heard before that thou didst doubt nothing of the word af 
Honorius and his servants. Why doubtest thou, then, about 
the words of Christ, the Son of God, and those of the 
Apostles, which they themselves uttered? They spake to 
us more of such like words than we can count, and with 
many examples and proofs they explained it to us. Why 
canst thou, then, not believe them all, and why saidst thou 
before that thou zvert their man? 

A. So I say still, and say that I believe them, and also 
know exactly that it is all true that God either through 
Himself or through them said; for there are more of these 
occurrences in the holy books than I can ever count. There- 
fore I am now ashamed that I ever doubted about it, and 
I confess that I am rightly convinced, and I shall always be 
much happier zvhen thou dost convince me of such things 
than I ever was when I convinced another m^n. All this 
I knew, however, before; but I forgot it, as I fear also 
that I shall this. I know also that I had so clean for- 
gotten it that I should never have remembered it again, if 
thou hadst not cited me clearer examples, both about my 
lord and about many parables. 

R. I wonder why thou couldst ever suppose that men's 
souls were not eternal, for thou clearly enough knewest that 
they are the highest and the most blessed of the creatures 
of God; and thou knozvest also clearly enough that He 
alloweth no creature entirely to pass away so that it cometh 
to naught — not even the most unworthy of all. But He 
beautifieth and adorneth all creatures, and again taketh 
away their beauty and adornments, and yet again reneweth 



62.30—63.34] St. Augustine 41 

them. They all so change, however, that they pass away, 
and suddenly come again and return to that same beauty 
and to the same winsomeness for the children of men, in 
which they were before Adam sinned. Now thou canst 
perceive that no creature so fully passeth away that it 
Cometh not again, nor so fully perisheth that it doth not 
become something. Nozv that the weakest creatures do not 
pass azvay entirely, why then supposest thou that the most 
blessed creature should entirely depart? 

A. Alas! I am beset with wretched forgetfulness, so 
tJiat I can not remember it as well as before. Methinks 
now that thou hadst explained it to me clearly enough by 
this one example, though thou hadst said nothing more. 

R. Seek nozv in thyself the examples and the signs, and 
thou canst know well zvhat thou before wouldst know, and 
what I explained to thee by the concrete examples. Ask 
thine own mind zvhy it is so desirous and so zealous to 
know zvhat was formerly, before thou wert born, or ever 
thy grandfather zvas born; and ask it also why it knoweth 
what is now present and zvhat it seeth and heareth every 
day; or why it wisheth to knozv zvhat shall be hereafter. 
Then I suppose it zvill anszver thee, if it is discreet, and say 
that it desireth to know what was before us for the reason 
that it always existed since the time that God created the 
first man; and therefore aspire th to what it formerly 
was, to know what it formerly knew, although it is now so 
heavily zveighed with the burden of the body that it can not 
knozv what it formerly knew. And I suppose that it 
zvill say to thee that it knoweth what it here seeth and 
heareth, because it is here in this world; and I suppose also 
that it will say that it zvisheth to knozv what shall happen 
after our days, because it knozveth that it shall ever be. 

A. Methinks now that thou hast clearly enough said that 
every man's soul ever is, and ever shall be, and ever was 
since God first made the first man. 

R. There is no doubt that souls are immortal. Believe 
thine own reason, and believe Christ, the Son of God, and 



42 King Alfred's [63-34— ^4-35 

believe all His sayings, because they are very reliable wit- 
nesses; and believe thine own soul, which always saith to 
thee through its reason that it is in thee; it saith also that 
it is eternal, because it zvisheth eternal things. It is not so 
foolish a creature as to seek that which it can not find, nor 
wish for that which doth not belong to it. Give over now 
thy foolish doubting. Clear enough it is that thou art 
eternal and shalt ever exist. 

A. That I hear and that I believe and clearly knozv, 
and I am rejoiced as I never was at anything. Now 
/ hear that my soul is eternal and ever liveth, and that the 
mind shall ever hold all that my mind and my reason 
gathered of good virtues. And I hear also that my intellect 
is eternal. But I wish yet to know what I before asked 
about the intellect: whether it shall, after the parting of the 
body and the soul, wa.v or zvane, or shall stand still in one 
place, or do as it before did in this world — for a time wax, 
then for a time zvane. I know nozv that life and reason are 
eternal, albeit I fear that it shall be in that world as it is 
here in children. I do not suppose that the life there shall 
be without reason, any more than it is here in children; in 
that case there zvould be too little winsomeness in that life. 

R. I hear now what thou wouldst know, but I can not 
tell thee in a fezv words. If thou wilt knozv it clearly, then 
shalt thou seek it in the book which we call De Videndo 
Deo. In English the book is called Of Seeing God. But 
be now of good cheer, and think over what thou hast nozv 
learned, and let us both pray that He may help us, for He 
promised that He would aid every one who called on Him 
and rightly zvished it; and He promised without any doubt 
that He would teach ns after this zvorld that we might very 
certainly know perfect zvisdom and full truthfulness, which 
thou may est hear about more clearly in the book which I 
have before named to thee — De Videndo Deo. 

Here endeth the anthology of the second book which we 
call Soliloquies. 



BOOK III 

Then said I: Nozv thou hast ended the sayings which 
thou hast selected from these two books, yet hast not 
answered me about zvhat I last asked thee, to wit, about my 
intellect. I asked thee whether, after the parting of body 
and soul, it would zvax or wane, or zvhether it would do both 
as it before did. 

R. Did I not say to thee before that thou must seek it 
in the book which we then spake of? Learn that book, then 
thou wilt find it there. 

A. I do not care now to study all that book; but I would 
that thou tell me thaf^ . . . the glory of the good, that 
their own torment may seem the more to them, because they 
zvould not by their Father's advice merit the same honors 
while they zvere in this zuorld. And the good see also the 
torments of the wicked in order that their own glory may 
seem the more. The wicked see God as the guilty man who 
is condemned before some king; when he seeth him and his 
own dear ones, then seemeth to him his punishment the 
greater. And so also the dear ones of the king see their 
punishment, so that their honors always may seem to them 
the greater. No man ought to suppose that all those that 
are in hell have like torments, nor that all those that are in 
heaven have like glory; but every one hath according to 
his merits, punishment as well as glory, whichever he is in. 
The like have their like. Moreover, it is not to be supposed 
that all men have like wisdom in Heaven; for every one 
hath it in the measure which he here merited. As he 
toileth better here and better yearneth after zvisdom and 
righteousness, so hath he more of it there; likewise more 
honor and more glory. Hath it now been clearly enough 
explained about wisdom and about the vision of God? 

A. Yea; truly enough I believe that zve need not lose 

^ A break in the MS. 



44 King Alfred's [66.5—67.9 

aught of the wisdom zvhich we now have, although the soul 
and the body part. But I believe that our intellect shall 
thereby be very much increased, though we can not all know 
before Doomsday what we would know. Howbeit I believe 
that after Doomsday naught will be hidden from us, neither 
of that which is in our days, nor of that which was before 
us, nor of that which shall come after us. Thou hast now 
related to me many examples, and I myself have seen in 
the writings of the sacred books more than I can reckon, 
or even can remember. Thou didst show me also such 
reliable testimony that I can do nothing else but believe 
it; for if I believe not weaker testimony, then know 
I very little or naught. What know I except that I wish 
we knew about God as clearly as we would f But the soul 
is weighed down and busied with the body so that we can 
not, with the eyes of the mind, see any thing just as it is, 
any more than thou canst see at times the sun shine, when 
the clouds shoot between it and thee, although it shineth 
very brightly where it is. And even though there be no 
cloud between thee and it, thou canst not see it clearly just 
as it is, because thou art not where it is; nor can thy body 
be there; nor can thy bodily eyes ceme any nearer there, nor 
even see that far. Not even the moon, which is nearer us, 
can we see just as it is. We knoiv that it is larger than the 
earth, and yet it doth not seem at times larger than a shield 
on account of the distance. Now thou hast heard tlmt we 
can not with the eyes of the mind ever see any thing of this 
world just as it is; yet from the part of it which we see we 
must believe the part which we do not see. But it is 
promised us beyond any doubt that, as soon as we come out 
of this world and the soul is released from the prison of 
the body, we shall know every thing which we now desire to 
know, and much more than the ancients, the wisest of all 
on the earth, could know. And after Doomsday it is 
promised that we may see God openly — yea, see Him just 
as He is; and know Him ever afterwards as perfectly as He 
now knoweth us. There shall never be any wisdom want- 



67.9—^.10] St. Augustine 45 

ing to us. He zuho granteth us to know Himself will con- 
ceal naught from us. Howbeit we shall knozv then all that 
we now ivish to know, and also that which we do not noiv 
wish to know. We shall all see God, both those zvho here 
are worst, and those zvho here are best. All the good shall 
see Him, to their comfort, and joy, and honor, and happiness, 
and glory; and the wicked shall see Him just the same as 
the good, though to their torment, for they shall see^ 
. . . might or could in this zvorld, or whether they had 
any remembrance of the friends zvhom they left behind in 
this world. 

Then answered he his ozvn thoughts and said: Why sup- 
posest thou that the departed good zvho have full and com- 
plete freedom shall knozv what they wish to know, either in 
this present life or in that to comef Why supposest thou 
that they have no memory of their friends in this world, 
inasmuch as the wicked Dives feared the same torments for 
his friends in hell as he had merited? It was he whom 
Christ spake of in His Gospel that besought Abraham to 
send Lazarus the beggar to him that he, zvith his little finger, 
might place a drop of zvater on his tongue and therewith 
cool his thirst. Then said Abraham: 'Nay, my son; but 
consider that thou didst withhold from him all comforts 
when ye were both in the body, thou having every good, and 
he every misfortune. He can not nozv do more for thy 
comfort than thou wouldst then do for him.' Then said the 
rich man: 'Abraham, if that can not be, send him to my five 
brethren who are still on the earth zvhere I was, that he 
may tell them in what punishment I am, and may admonish 
them to take warning not to come Ivither.' Then said 
Abraham: 'Nay, nay; they have the books of the holy 
Fathers zvith them on earth. Let them study them and 
believe them. If they do not believe them, neither will 
they believe Lazarus, though he come to them.' 

^ Omission in the MS. 



46 King Alfred's [68. ii— 69.14 

Now we can hear that both the departed good and the 
wicked know all that happeneth in this world, and also in 
the world in which they are. They know the greatest part — 
though they do not know it all before Doomsday — and they 
have very clear remembrance of their kin and friends in the 
world. And the good help the good, every one of them 
another, as much as they can. But the good will not have 
mercy on their wicked friends, because the latter do not 
wish to depart from their evil, any more than Abraham 
would not pity the rich man who ivas his own kin because 
he perceived that he was not so humble to God as he ought 
rightly to be. The zvicked, then, can neither do their friends 
nor themselves any good, because they zvere formerly, when 
they were in this world, of no aid either to themselves or 
to their friends who had passed aivay before them. But 
it shall be with them even as it is with men, ivho are in 
this world brought into the prison of some king and can 
see their friends all day and ask about them what they 
desire, albeit they can not be of any good to them, nor 
the prisoners to them; they have neither the wish nor the 
ability. Wherefore the wicked have the greater punish- 
ment in the world to come, because they know the glory 
and the honor of the good; and all the more because they 
recall all the honor which they had in this world; and more- 
over they know the honor which those have who shall then 
be left behind them in this zvorld. 

Howbeit the good, then, who have full freedom, see both 
their friends and their enemies, just as in this life lords 
and rulers often see together both their friends and their 
enemies. They see them alike and know them alike, albeit 
they do not love them alike. And again the righteous, after 
they are out of this znjorld, shall recall very often both the 
good and the evil xvhich they had in this zvorld, and rejoice 
very much that they did not depart from their Lord's will, 
either in easy or in hidden things, while they were in this 
world. Just so some king in this zvorld may have driven 
one of his favorites from him, or he may have been forced 



69.14—70.5] St. Aucrustine 



47 



from the king against both of their wills; then hath he many 
torments and many mishaps in his exile, yet he may come to 
the same lord whom he before was with, and there be much 
more worshipful than he was. Then he will recall the mis- 
fortunes which he had there in his exile, and yet not be the 
more unhappy. But I myself saw or [believed^ what more 
untrustworthy men told me than those were who told what 
we are seeking. Must I not needs do one of two things — 
either believe some men or none? Methinks now that I 
know who built the city of Rome, and also many another 
thing which existed before our day, all of which I can not 
sum- up. I know not zvho built the city of Rome for the rea- 
son that I myself sazv it. Nor even know I of what kin I 
am, nor who my father or mother tvas, except by hearsay. 
I know that my father begat me and my mother bare me, 
but I do not know it because I myself saw it, but because 
it was told me. Howbeit not so trustworthy men told that 
to me as those were who said that which we now for a long 
time have sought for; and still I believe it. 

Therefore methinks that man very foolish and very 
wretched who will not increase his intelligence while he is 
in this world, and also zvish and desire that he may come to 
the eternal life, zvhere nothing is hid from us. 

Here end the sayings zvhich King Alfred collected from 
the book which zve call in . . . 



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